The Freesat box has an Electronic Programme guide. This is the TV channel guide that lists all the channel on the Freesat box. However, not all of the free TV channels available are setup on the Freesat box EPG. For some channels, it is not work paying the money to appear on the Freesat boxes channel list. But, as the Freesat box is basically a free to air receiver, you can, by going into Non Freesat mode, scan all the available frequencies and channels, and receiver over 100 more channels that are available for free, but do not appear on the Freesat boxes TV guide. One such channel is Sky News.

This Non Freesat mode is the only real Freesat Cheat, Freesat Trick or alternate Freesat code available. You do not even need to know what the frequencies are, or buy a satellite TV installation book, as the Freesat box will automatically scan ALL available frequencies.

And, unlike a Sky box, you do not have to input a frequency code into a Freesat box, when you have a power cut. A Freesat box should be able to boot up correctly after a power cut and start to work almost immediately, after the initial download. This is because the Freesat programme guide is on a very strong frequency signal that is easily available across Europe.

A Sky boxes initial software download frequency is not on an ideal frequency for Spain and this is why you have to help your Sky box reset and perform a download by changing the Default Transponder frequency code. There is not any one correct default transponder frequency code you can use, you can use most of the 90plus frequencies to help reset your sky box.

Some companies claim that you can add 50 more free channels to your subscription sky box. This is partially true. Most of the free TV channels available on Sky and Freesat TV boxes already appear on the Sky TV guide. The only extra and additional free TV channels you can add to your Sky box are other alternate ITV1 regions.

You are allocated an ITV1 region on Sky channel 103. This is determined by using the postcode of your sky subscription card. However, you can, using the Sky remote control, input frequency codes on the Sky box to load into the Sky box all the other ITV1 advertising regions.

Remember that Freesat TV over Europe, just like Sky TV over Europe, is all dependent on your equipment, such as make and size of your satellite dish, make and type of LNB, and make and type of your digital satellite receiver. This will apply wherever you are in Europe: Spain, the Canaries and the Balearics, England, Ireland, Malta, France, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Germany and all other Eurozone areas.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

In the week that the sale of TV rights for international Premier League hit a new record reaching 1,556 million Euros, here is the status and values of the collective sale of television rights in the major European leagues.

The ranking is a reflection of the market value of the european national leagues. The English Premier League is still the most valued competition, both internationally (Asia) and for the domestic market.

1.English Premier League – contract from 2012/13 to 2009/10 (3 seasons): total amount of 3,538 million Euros, of which 1,556 million euros on the sale of international rights. English clubs have at their disposal 1,179 million Euros per season to distribute to the 20 clubs in the Premier League.
2.Italian Serie A – 2-year contract from 2010/11 to 2011/12 for a total value of 1,822 million Euros, about 911 million Euros annually.
3.French Ligue 1 – 4-season contract, from 2008/09 to 2011/12. Total value of 2,672 million Euros, about 668 million Euros annually.
4.German BundesLiga – 4-season deal, from 2009/10 to 2012/13. Total value of 1,648 million Euros, about 412 million Euros annually.
5.Spanish Liga – Barcelona and Real Madrid are not very interested in the collective sale of television rights, as they negociate their own contracts and get about 240 million Euros in annual TV rights, for a total of around 500 million Euros between the 20 league clubs.
6.Turkish Süper Lig – contract with a duration of 4 seasons, from 2010/2011 to 2013/2014. Total value of 1,041 million euros, about 260.3 million euros annually.
7.Dutch Eredivisie – 3-year term, from 2008 / 9 to 2010/11. Total value of 300 million euros, about 100 million Euros annually.
8.Greek Super League – contract with a duration of 3 seasons, from 2009/10 to 2011/12. Total value of 162 million euros, about 54 million Euros annually. (amount may increase if Olympiakos and Xhantos also enter the collective sale).
9.Portuguesa Liga – As in Spain, Portugal did not sell their TV rights collectively, with Benfica, Sporting and Porto pulled in a combined 24 million euros per year, roughly half of the total value paid to the 16 league clubs .
10.Polish Ekstraklasa – contract with a duration of 3 seasons, from 2008/09 to 2010/11. Total value of 101.5 million euros, about 33.8 million Euros annually.
11.Romanian liga 1 – contract with a duration of 3 seasons, from 2008/2009 to 2010/11. Total value of 85 million, about 28.3 million Euros annually.
12.English League Cup – contract with a duration of 5 seasons, from 2009/10 to 2014/15. Total value of 75 million, about 15 million Euros annually. The contract signed with Setanta before its bankruptcy was 157 million Euros for the same period, about 31.4 million Euros per year.
13.Belgian Jupiler League – contract with a duration of 3 seasons, from 2008/09 to 2010/11. Total value of 44.7 million, about 14.9 million Euros annually.
Source: futebolfinance.com

I found this article in blogland. Its quite good in explaining the HD TV evolution, and the history of changes in televisions.

What is HD Satellite TV?

HDTV stands for high definition television. This is a higher quality television picture than the SDTV or standard definition television. High definition signals are available from paid television providers like Sky TV and other providers. The HD signal has a greater resolution than the SD signal, 1080i compared to 480i, which amounts to six times the resolution of the SC signal. The shape of the HD signal, when it appears on an HDTV screen, is similar to what is viewed on the screen in a movie theatre-much wider coverage that the old almost square format home television screen. The High Definition transmission also has three components to its signal, not one, like an SD signal. This results in less signal degradation and therefore greater clarity on your television. The HD signal is completely digital which also gives added clarity over the standard definition signal.

History of HDTV

The first publicly demonstrated television was given almost eight decades ago in England. From this first remarkable television demonstration of a grainy black and white image to receiving a high definition television signal beamed from twenty two thousand miles in space to a personal receiving dish has been a long road.

There are upwards of 270 million televisions in US households today. But it was not until 1949 that the sales of televisions began to rapidly increase. The first commercial color set was introduced by RCA in 1954 and by the time the 1960s set in most black and white televisions had replaced with color units. Also in the 1960s remote controls were introduced by the television industry to further enhance the television viewing experience. This was perhaps the one event that birthed the “couch potato” generation, not even having to stand up and move to change the television channel.

And then in the 1970s the VCR made its debut and freed the television viewer from real time viewing, allowing them to record a program and watch it when it fit into their schedule. In the 1970s and 1980s, cable television also became more mainstream as more channels came online, which today, exceeds 300 offered by the major paid providers. Beginning in the 1980s television began to become more of a central focus in the lives of Americans with the increased program offerings. A person at home could “view the world” and not even leave his or her living room. HD Satellite TV is just the newest advance in this 80 year old technology that has brought the world closer together and in some respects moved it farther apart. Television is wonderful at magnifying many of the problems that we need to solve in our world.

The present day HDTV signal began with research in Japan by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. The research was taken up by the US in 1980 and the first HDTV demonstrations occurred in the US in 1981. In the mid 1990s it was suggested that that an all digital signal would, in the future, become the standard for television broadcasting. This mandate ushered in the widespread use of HDTV that we see today.

Both Sky TV and other broadcsaters are now providing quality, HD programming through satellite service and even on TDT in Spain - the terrestrial digital TV service available in Spain via a TV aerial.

HD Satellite TV Receivers

In order to take advantage of the new hd satellite tv signal, there are new hd receivers satellites are tuned to transmit to in dish satellite hdtv home systems. These receivers are hard wire from the satellite dish to inside your home entertainment center equipment. Improved models are constantly being designed so that more dish packages can be selected by hd television viewers. The present day DVR has almost totally replaced the VCR as the standard program recording device. Many VCR units are still around, but the newer Digital Video Recorders can record 500 hours of SD television programming. This is a remarkable increase over the 6 hour maximum of the old VCR tape.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Only pay-TV subscribers will be able to watch Sky Sports News as of August 23rd.

Sky has confirmed that Sky Sports News will no longer be available as a Freeview channel from later this month.

The digital TV, broadband and home phone provider revealed that the move will go ahead from August 23rd 2010 to enable it to "develop the channel through increased editorial investment".

This date also marks the launch of Sky Sports News's high-definition variant.

According to Sky, its existing subscribers with either the Sports or News & Events packs will be unaffected by the move. Those who do not have either of these will be able to view Sky Sports News as a bonus channel until February 2011.

Sky has pledged to put more reporters and production trucks on the roads in order to respond quicker to breaking news and revealed it will also be adding new presenters and programmes.

Sky Sports News will become an exclusively pay-TV channel.

Under the changes on Freeview, Sky Sports News will become Sky3+1 on Freeview and offer an hour timeshift of the already available Sky3 channel.

From that point, Sky Sports News will only be available on Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk TV, along with Sky's online and mobile platforms.

Sky said that changing Sky Sports News to an exclusively pay-TV channel is about "allowing it to benefit from continued growth in subscription revenues".

Also the satellite broadcaster also plans to launch Sky Sports News HD.

Freeview is a UK only digital TV service.
Freeview is a digital television services available via a TV aerial - ie terrestrial.
Freeview is not available via satellite.
Freeview is not available in Spain - dispite what many other installers say and advertise!

Spain has its version of Freeview - it is called TDT - Television Digital Terrestrial.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Canal+ Dos is expected to launch on TDT in Spain on the 23rd August - ie next week.

Today, the 17th AUgust the boxes should have gone on sale.

There was talk of putting the first units in strategic commercial centers and gradually spread throughout the distribution to all areas.

Canal + Dos will be a pay channel on Premium TDT.

YOu will require another card - seperate to the current GOL TV and AXN cards, but the new Canal+ Dos card shouold be conpatiable with most existing Pay TDT recievers and PCMAI readers on TV that are currently used for the GOL TV footlabb cards.

So, they say that anyone who is a Gol TV subscriber can purchase this card and use it in their CAM or receiver without any incompatibility.

The channel is expected to cost €15 per month.
The Channel is currently offering two free months of viewing with new purchases.
It is unknown if other channel will join this line up and make the €15 go further.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Videos of Lady Gaga and Beyonce "Telephone" and Shakira "Waka Waka" are available. Between each song there is a promotion that indicates that the channel is a "good idea" and would soon be available on TDT in Spain.

380 Premier League matches on Satellite TV - another operator gains the broadcast rights to all matches.

Portuguese operator TV Sport TV launches an English Premier League TV Sport Channel, devoted entirely to the Premier League, the leading English Football Championship.

Operating 24h/day and seven days a week, this channel aims to distribute a total of 380 English Premier League matches and highlights of the competition. It will be available at no additional cost to subscribers of the current HD channel Sport TV.

Many of these games will be shown LIVE, and in HD. Not all 3pm saturday kick offs will be available LIVE but they will be available on a delayed basis.

At the moment English Sport TV is available to customers of Portuguese MEO Satellite Operator. It is available on the Hispasat satellites at 30 West, the same group used by Spanish satewllite operator Digital+.

A spectacular weekend GOL TV with th best in LIVE and delayed coverage of the best football leagues in the world.

Premier League, French League, Portuguese League, German Cup, Scottish League Belgian League and complete the program on Saturday, Sunday and Monday

The best international competitions have started the 2010/2011 season and because of this, GOL TV will offer a spectacular weekend with eight games live, and the start of the Premier League as a great starter.

Throughout Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the best games of the Premier League, French League, Portuguese League, German Cup, Scottish League Belgian League and become part of the programming of GOL T.

On Saturday, the day of live Premier League kicks off with, at 13:45, exclusively, with Tottenham vs Manchester City.
The narrator will Lluís Izquierdo and commentator, Paul Giblin.

Parabola reports that the platform has completed the transition from Nagravision 2 to Nagravision 3 and 4, thereby hopefully stemming what were believed to be huge financial losses.

Under Nagra 2, some users were able to use "keys" from the internet, and input these keys into their receivers to unscramble the PAY TV channels for free - with no subscription.

Some of the channels, like NOVA SPORT, were and are showing English Premier League football matches live, including at least one 3pm saturday kickoff. So people watching this channels last year will not longer be able to view it without proper subsription.

It also says that Digi TV has around 220,000 subscribers in the Czech Republic and 300,000 in Slovakia.

Friday, August 6, 2010

TVE HD now reaches 63% of the population but have to wait to 2015 for it reaches 98%

Spanish Television coverage continues to expand its high definition channel with TVE HD, now coming to 63% of the population and can be seen in 40 provinces.

The public broadcaster want that by February 2011 90% of the population, and 98% by 2015, receives TVE HD and the best quality picture on their TV.

Valencia, Alicante, Tarragona, San Sebastian, Santander, Almeria, Aguilas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas, Cáceres, Badajoz, Leon, Jaén, Toledo and Pamplona are some of the provinces that have are able to receive TVE HD. This is in addition to Madrid, Barcelona, Zamora, Zaragoza A Coruña who have been receiving the signal for a few months.

In total 63% of the population, 28 million people, should be able to receive TVE HD, via their TV aeiral and a TDT HD receiver, be it a HD TV with built in TDT receiver, or a seperate HD TDT settop box.

The expanding coverage in TVE HD, and HD on TDT in general is the result of the bringing into operation of a second transmitter / receiver that emits a replica of the channel and the channel TVE Teledeporte HD tests, and better TDT encoding technology.TVE HD now reaches 63% of the population but have to wait to 2015 for it reaches 98%

Spanish Television coverage continues to expand its high definition channel with TVE HD, now coming to 63% of the population and can be seen in 40 provinces.

The public broadcaster want that by February 2011 90% of the population, and 98% by 2015, receives TVE HD and the best quality picture on their TV.

Valencia, Alicante, Tarragona, San Sebastian, Santander, Almeria, Aguilas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas, Cáceres, Badajoz, Leon, Jaén, Toledo and Pamplona are some of the provinces that have are able to receive TVE HD. This is in addition to Madrid, Barcelona, Zamora, Zaragoza A Coruña who have been receiving the signal for a few months.

In total 63% of the population, 28 million people, should be able to receive TVE HD, via their TV aeiral and a TDT HD receiver, be it a HD TV with built in TDT receiver, or a seperate HD TDT settop box.

The expanding coverage in TVE HD, and HD on TDT in general is the result of the bringing into operation of a second transmitter / receiver that emits a replica of the channel and the channel TVE Teledeporte HD tests, and better TDT encoding technology.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

BSkyB is rebranding Virgin1, the general entertainment channel it acquired as part of a £160m deal to buy Virgin Media Television, as Channel One.

Channel One, which is available on Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky as a free-to-air service, will relaunch on Friday 3 September backed by a bolstered schedule and a marketing campaign.

The channel will be broadcasting the recent remake of 1980s alien invasion series V, first seen in the UK earlier this year on SyFy.

"Channel One will continue to embody the wit and warmth of Virgin1 and inherits the jam-packed schedule that has propelled the channel to the market-beating growth over the last few years," said Jonathan Webb, the managing director of Channel One's parent company, the Living TV Group, which was previously known as Virgin Media Television.

BSkyB completed the deal to buy Virgin Media Television, which operates pay-TV channels including Living, Bravo and Challenge, last month, although the Office of Fair Trading is examining the deal to see whether there might be regulatory issues.

In June, BSkyB moved to reduce the valuable premium content it runs on Freeview by putting Sky Sports News behind a paywall after eight years as a free-to-air service. It is to replace the channel with a one-hour time-shifted Sky 3+1 service later this year.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

ITV confirmed it is to make a move into pay-TV as it announced a pre-tax profit of £97m for the first half of the year.

During the reporting of its first half accounts, ITV have confirmed that high definition versions of ITV2, ITV3 and ITV 4 will be launching.

The new channels will be available from the autumn as part of the Sky+HD subscription package. ITV2 HD will launch in October, with ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD launching shortly afterwards. ITV2 HD will launch in October for the start of The Xtra Factor, with ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD launching shortly afterwards.

Announcing the move, ITV chief executive Adam Crozier said: "Building new revenue streams by exploiting our content across multiple platforms is a key part of the ITV transformation plan announced today.

"Pay television has seen continual growth over the last decade and this deal is a great example of how a new, subscription-based launch can complement ITV's existing free-to-air channels."

ITV1+1 also expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2011.

It is also expected that a new channel will also be launched, again as part of a PAY TV package, in a similar genre as Dave.

It is unknown what type of frequencies ITV2HD ITV3HD and ITV4HD will be located on, and if they will be easily available here in Spain.

From the ITV statement to the Stock Exchange

The new high definition channels will showcase a large and increasing range of high definition programming. ITV2, original HD programming will include the top rating entertainment shows, Britain's Got More Talent, The Xtra Factor and I'm A Celebrity….Get Me Out of Here Now! ; original drama such as the third series of Secret Diary of a Call Girl; and acquired content including Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl, and a range of top movies.

ITV3 will offer most of its catalogue of recent drama in high definition, including the likes of Lewis, Marple, Above Suspicion, and landmark factual series such as Joanna Lumley's Nile and Martin Clunes: Islands of Britain. An increasing amount of ITV3's classic drama will be broadcast in high definition as ITV re-masters its extensive back-catalogue. ITV4's high definition content will include premium sports events such as Tour de France and UEFA Europa League, as well as films.

The Sky+HD box not only provides access to Europe's leading HD service and Sky's new HD electronic programme guide (EPG), but later this year it will also offer customers access to full broadband-enabled video-on-demand service and Sky 3D, Europe's first 3D TV channel, which launches to Sky homes on 1st October 2010.

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